TY - JOUR
T1 - Food taxes and calories purchased in the virtual supermarket
T2 - a preliminary study
AU - Poelman, Maartje
AU - Kroeze, Willemieke
AU - Waterlander, Wilma
AU - de Boer, Michiel
AU - Steenhuis, Ingrid
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support: the preparation of this paper was supported by the DEterminants of DIet and Physical ACtivity (DEDIPAC) knowledge hub. This work is supported by the Joint Programming Initiative “Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life.” The Dutch funding agency funding this work was The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of three food taxation schemes on energy (kcal), saturated fat (gram) and sugar (gram) purchased in the virtual supermarket.Design/methodology/approach: Based on the literature, three food taxation schemes were developed (sugar tax, saturated fat tax and a nutrient profiling tax) and implemented in the three-dimensional virtual supermarket. A randomized control trial was conducted to determine the differences in the amount of energy (kcal), saturated fat (gram) and sugar (gram) purchased for a one-week food basket.Findings: In total, 191 Dutch adults were randomly assigned to a sugar-tax condition (n=48), a saturated fat-tax condition (n=37), a nutrient profiling-tax condition (n=62) and a control (no-tax) condition (n=44). Fully adjusted models indicated that compared to the no-tax condition, no significant effects of a sugar-tax condition (B: −2,041 kcal (95% CI −5,350 to 1,914)), saturated fat-tax condition (B: −2,717 kcal (95% CI −6,596 to 1,163)) or nutrient profiling-tax condition (B: −1,124 kcal (95% CI −4,538 to 2,292)) were found on the amount of energy purchased. Also, none of the taxation schemes showed significant effects on saturated fat or sugar purchased.Originality/value: This is one of the first randomized controlled trials testing the effectiveness of a variety of food taxes in the virtual supermarket. This preliminary study provides important directions for future research (the design, results, as well as the lessons learned with respect to recruitment, incentives and technology).
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of three food taxation schemes on energy (kcal), saturated fat (gram) and sugar (gram) purchased in the virtual supermarket.Design/methodology/approach: Based on the literature, three food taxation schemes were developed (sugar tax, saturated fat tax and a nutrient profiling tax) and implemented in the three-dimensional virtual supermarket. A randomized control trial was conducted to determine the differences in the amount of energy (kcal), saturated fat (gram) and sugar (gram) purchased for a one-week food basket.Findings: In total, 191 Dutch adults were randomly assigned to a sugar-tax condition (n=48), a saturated fat-tax condition (n=37), a nutrient profiling-tax condition (n=62) and a control (no-tax) condition (n=44). Fully adjusted models indicated that compared to the no-tax condition, no significant effects of a sugar-tax condition (B: −2,041 kcal (95% CI −5,350 to 1,914)), saturated fat-tax condition (B: −2,717 kcal (95% CI −6,596 to 1,163)) or nutrient profiling-tax condition (B: −1,124 kcal (95% CI −4,538 to 2,292)) were found on the amount of energy purchased. Also, none of the taxation schemes showed significant effects on saturated fat or sugar purchased.Originality/value: This is one of the first randomized controlled trials testing the effectiveness of a variety of food taxes in the virtual supermarket. This preliminary study provides important directions for future research (the design, results, as well as the lessons learned with respect to recruitment, incentives and technology).
KW - Computer software
KW - Consumer purchasing decisions
KW - Food policy
KW - Prices
KW - Public health
KW - Supermarkets
U2 - 10.1108/BFJ-08-2016-0386
DO - 10.1108/BFJ-08-2016-0386
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85034953828
SN - 0007-070X
VL - 119
SP - 2559
EP - 2570
JO - British Food Journal
JF - British Food Journal
IS - 12
ER -